How to Go Green This Easter

When it comes to major holidays like Easter you should be thinking reduce, reuse, and recycle. Why not go green this Easter?  You might be wondering how much impact a few little Easter baskets can have on the environment. But if you think about how much food, plates, and utensils you also use to put on a big family Easter feast and consider that many families across the world are doing similar, or consider that your local grocery store is not the only store with a wall of Easter candy packaged in plastics and foil…

Did you know that each year more than 8,000 tons of waste is produced from Easter egg packaging? In the UK about 80,000 eggs are sold around Easter, producing approximately 160 tons of foil waste, a material that has a big environmental impact.

So how can you go green this Easter? I recently came across some great articles on ways to have a green Easter or a sustainable Easter and compliled some highlights here. My sources are located at the bottom of this blog post. Here are some ways to go green this Easter:

1. Easter baskets:
   1. Reuse your Easter baskets
   2. If you need to an Easter basket, find one at your local Goodwill or thrift shop.
   3. Don’t limit yourself to baskets! You can make them out of candleholders, felt, fabric, coffee cans, and cardboard boxes. Learn more about making Easter baskets out of these materials here.
   4. Inside the Easter basket: While plastic eggs to hold candy are the traditional Easter basket filler, they aren’t very ecofriendly. Try making your own candy holder. Learn how to make a cute recycled Easter bunny candy holder here with a toilet paper roll! If your feeling really crafty, you can even make an origami bunny to hold tiny treats like shown in this image.
   5. Still want eggs inside your Easter baskets? Reuse old eggs around your house or from Goodwill. Eggs can also be made out of  wood with felt, scrap fabric, recycled materials like plastic water bottles, and scrap strings like yarn, twine, thread, etc.
   6. Don’t buy the plastic Easter grass!
      1. You can reuse the grass from the year before but if you don’t have any, you can use other alternatives like shredded newspaper of magazine clippings, green yarn, green playsilk. Shredding leftover green tissue paper would be convenient!
      2. Dying Easter eggs
         1. This year dye your eggs naturally by making your own dye. Think of the foods that always stain your clothes…like beets, blackberries, tea, and grape juice.  Check out this great article from Better Homes and Gardens for All Natural Easter Egg Dye Recipes.

Sources:

http://craftingagreenworld.com/2013/03/25/the-eco-friendly-easter-basket-tips-for-a-sustainable-easter-morning/

http://preschoolers.about.com/od/Easter/a/Celebrate-A-Green-Easter.htm

http://www.wasteconnect.co.uk/page.aspx?ID=36d6a9bc-a62a-4809-98cf-49dae76f2626